Reserve Soldiers find honor in mortuary affairs work

For Reserve Soldiers working with the 21st Theater Support Command as part of their annual training, it is an honor to simply do their jobs.

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They are mortuary affairs Soldiers from the 246th Quartermaster Company who deployed Oct. 28 to Nov. 18 in support of United States Army Memorial Affairs Activity-Europe. USAMAA-E, part of 21st TSC’s Support Operations, is collocated with Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. One aspect of its mission is to deliver the remains of servicemembers and their possessions to families as quickly as possible.

“I am very proud of the work I do for the Soldiers and to give them the respect they deserve,” said Spc. Luis Gutierrez of the 246th. “I know that someday somebody’s going to take care of me.”  

Soldiers at USAMAA-E prepare deceased servicemembers, family members and Department of Defense civilians across European Command and Central Command for funerary rites, help settle the deceased’s affairs and perform search and recovery of the remains of servicemembers. The reserve contingent from the 246th, based in Puerto Rico, is an important part of the team. 

The practical training and hands-on experience the Soldiers of the 246th receive is impossible to reproduce back at their unit, said Staff Sgt. Fernando Ramos, NCOIC of the deployed group.       

“There’s no way to simulate this,” said Staff Sgt. Julio Irizarry of the 246th. “It’s not only training, it’s actually doing it.”

One aspect of mortuary affairs’ work that makes it so unique is that no one else does it, Sergeant Ramos said.  There are only four mortuary affairs units in the Army: two Reserve and two active-duty.

Another unique aspect of the job is that while many Soldiers risk death or lose comrades, mortuary affairs specialists confront death on a regular basis. But it’s the satisfaction of honoring Soldiers who have died that spurs them on.
“Since I went to the Pentagon and I saw all the disaster, it gave me more motivation in helping the families and helping the peers of the deceased,” Sergeant Ramos said of his service in the search and recovery mission after 9/11.

For the younger Soldiers, the experiences they’ve already gained are motivating them in the same way.